Just Say Yes: U.S. Mellows On Medical Marijuana

The Justice Department told federal prosecutors yesterday to back off medical-marijuana users who comply with state laws.

A memo from Deputy Attorney General David Ogden, affirming a policy disclosed earlier this year, said it was “unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources” to prosecute “individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen.”

Oh, how the (high) times have changed. Under the Bush administration, federal agents raided medical marijuana dispensaries that violated federal statutes even if they appeared to comply with state laws.